The Mekong Memo: Cambodia

Cambodia 20260427

August Whitcraft — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 02:13:31 GMT

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Headlines:

Washington Names a Senator Phnom Penh Won't

Phnom Penh Counts the Bodies, Not the Bosses

Wang Yi Brings a Shopping List to Phnom Penh

Bangkok Rips Up the Gulf Deal

Class of 2026 Gets the Call

Phnom Penh's Finest, Now in the Dock

NBC Offers Apologies, Not Refunds

Washington Returns With a Smaller Check

Two-Thirds of Trade Now Rides on RCEP

Twenty Billion Dreams, Two Billion Reality

Washington Names a Senator Phnom Penh Won't

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Cambodian Senator Kok An and 28 associates on Thursday, accusing the Crown Resorts tycoon of running pig-butchering compounds out of his casinos in Poipet, Sihanoukville, and Bavet, where trafficked workers were reportedly beaten for missing daily contact quotas with American targets. OFAC made a claim on more than $700 million in cryptocurrency, took control of 503 domains, and named Heng Feng Cambodia Bank as well as his security conglomerate Anco Brothers. Thai police had already raided his border properties last July, taking $33.8 million in assets, and he now faces an arrest warrant there. Kok An is the second senator Washington has sanctioned for ties to the industry, after Ly Yong Phat in 2024. The Senate's spokesperson said Kok An has "immunity" as a sitting member, and that questions should be directed to U.S. authorities.

Read more: Bangkok Post (political shield angle), Unchained Crypto ($10B annual losses), PBS ($21B 2025 losses), CamboJA News (compound closures), OCCRP (Hun Sen ties)

Phnom Penh Counts the Bodies, Not the Bosses

The government released its tallies, and they're impressive on paper. More than 250 scam centers raided, 91 casinos shuttered, 13,039 foreigners deported from 33 nationalities since early 2025, and another 241,888 who read the room and left on their own steam between mid-January and mid-April. A new anti-scam law issued on April 6 adds teeth, offering life sentences for operators whose schemes result in a death. CENTRAL executive director Moeun Tola said "Without holding the masterminds accountable, these online scam networks cannot be destroyed."

Read more: Nation Thailand (Wang Yi meeting), Khaosod English ($19B GDP share), The Star (four working groups), CamboJA News (low-level targeting critique)

Wang Yi Brings a Shopping List to Phnom Penh

China sent both its foreign and defense ministers to Phnom Penh for the first meeting under a new "2+2" strategic dialogue, an idea Xi Jinping floated during his state visit last year. The format is going to be upgraded to "3+3" with the addition of Cambodia's Interior Ministry and China's Ministry of Public Security. Wang Yi used the trip to tell Hun Manet that scam centers must be "completely eradicated," a demand that’s now formalized along with growing law enforcement cooperation. Interestingly, Wang then brought a message to Bangkok, telling the Thai PM that Cambodia "no longer wants to fight." Cambodian-Sino trade was almost $20 billion last year, overwhelmingly in China's favor.

Read more: AP News (Ream Naval Base), Khaosod English (Thai PM), Arab News (scam center), Xinhua (Hun Sen meeting), CamboJA News (Cambodia-Thailand border)

Bangkok Rips Up the Gulf Deal

Thailand's National Security Council has confirmed that it scrapped the 2001 maritime MoU with Cambodia. The deal was how the countries had previously agreed to jointly tap hydrocarbons in their overlapping continental shelf claims in the Gulf of Thailand. The Thai PM announced the decision on Thursday, but it won’t go into effect until after cabinet review. The Royal Thai Navy's explanation is that too many years have passed without progress. Phnom Penh's Foreign Ministry called the unilateral Thai withdrawal "deeply regrettable," and said the agreement was the "genuine will and common interest" of both nations. Bangkok's preferred alternative is UNCLOS, a venue Cambodia has only recently joined.

Class of 2026 Gets the Call

The cabinet approved a new conscription law on Thursday that will see Cambodian males aged 18 to 25 to serve 24 months in the military. The new rules replace a 2006 law that has been unenforced for two decades. The upper age limit is down from 30, and the service expected is longer (from 18 months to 24). Hun Manet telegraphed the change last July as things started to heat up with Thailand. One independent monitor has already flagged the possibility of ghost soldiers on the existing payroll.

Read more: CamboJA News (socioeconomic disparities), Asian News Network (corruption warnings)

Phnom Penh's Finest, Now in the Dock

Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit referred Deputy Director-General of Immigration Uk Heisela and Phnom Penh Deputy Police Commissioner Sor Samnang to court on Wednesday over allegations of bribery tied to scam networks and money laundering. Pro-government outlet Fresh News named Samnang's wife and a man identified as Yat Kosal as additional suspects. Authorities say they have shut down hundreds of scam compounds this year, deported around 48,000 foreign workers from them, and opened cases against some 750 alleged ringleaders.

Read more: CamboJA News

NBC Offers Apologies, Not Refunds

About a hundred protesters, mostly Chinese, blocked the road outside the National Bank of Cambodia on Friday, some holding photos of Xi Jinping, after a third round of talks ended the same way as the first two did, with the NBC telling Huione Pay customers to sue somebody else. The central bank says Huione Pay and H-Pay are separate entities, which sidesteps the inconvenient detail that customers were told to migrate to H-Pay after Huione Pay ran out of funds. H-Pay's license was yanked on April 10, and liquidation now falls to Reachs & Partners, whose CEO told claimants the firm had only secured office premises the night before opening its doors. When customers asked whether holdings in USDT could be refunded, he told them to file their documents first, then added that "USDT is illegal."

Read more: CamboJA News

Washington Returns With a Smaller Check

The US and Cambodia signed a five-year, $36 million health deal on April 2, the first America First Global Health Strategy agreement in Asia, for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis programs. Washington is putting in more than $30 million; Phnom Penh is kicking in $5.3 million of its own. For context, last year's USAID purge killed 30 Cambodian projects and roughly $260 million in health, education and civil society funding. PSI Cambodia's Chi Socheat called the deal a "positive sign" but said nobody has told the NGOs that ran those programs for decades whether they will see any of the new money.

Read more: CamboJA News

Two-Thirds of Trade Now Rides on RCEP

Cambodia's first-quarter trade was $17.58 billion, up 18 percent year-on-year, and RCEP partners made up $11.26 billion, or almost two-thirds of the total. China, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, and Thailand lead the pack. The catch is that imports from RCEP countries rose 24.2 percent but exports only inched up 4.2 percent.

Read more: Khmer Times

Twenty Billion Dreams, Two Billion Reality

Cambodia and Vietnam closed their 2026 Business Dialogue with visions of a $20 billion bilateral trade target and border checkpoints upgraded to international standards. The Q1 numbers tell a different story, however. Vietnam is already Cambodia's third-largest trading partner and fifth-largest investor, having 223 registered projects and nearly $3 billion in capital invested. The Phnom Penh dialogue, put together by the Vietnamese embassy and the Cambodia-Vietnam Business Association, brought together more than 200 delegates.

Cambodia 20260420

August Whitcraft — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 02:39:46 GMT

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Headlines:

Hun Sen Offers Critics a Rifle

Ream Gets Its First Ship With Teeth

American Carts, Chinese Capital

IMF Says 4%, Economists Say 3%, Pump Says Relief

Beijing Pours a Billion Into Koh Kong's Hills

Sihanoukville's Shells Get Squatters, Not Investors

First Project Bond Takes Home the Hardware

Erection for the Rat Who Outworked the Sappers

Hun Sen Offers Critics a Rifle

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry filed a formal sovereignty protest, claiming Thai military construction is taking place in three border provinces, including an observation post in Preah Vihear and bunkers in Oddar Meanchey. Phnom Penh said the activity is a push to consolidate what it termed "illegal occupation," a phrase that doesn't leave much room for quiet diplomacy. Senate President Hun Sen spent part of Khmer New Year on the back foot, releasing a voice clip after Australia-based analyst Seng Sary called his wounded-little-finger metaphor an insult to Khmer ancestors and fallen soldiers. Hun Sen's counter was that the only alternative to negotiation is the "hard way" of military confrontation, and he invited Sary to come home and join the front line if that's his preference.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (locations), Nation Thailand (Thai rebuttal), Cambodianess (border blame), Cambodianess (quotes)

Ream Gets Its First Ship With Teeth

Hull number 622, a Type 056C corvette, pulled in to Ream Naval Base on April 4 and was formally handed over four days later, giving the Royal Cambodian Navy its first surface combatant capable of carrying missiles. The vessel is also bigger than the one that China keeps for itself, as satellite imagery puts the hull at roughly 95 meters, about five meters longer than the standard Type 056 variants used by the PLA Navy. Beijing is transferring this ship and a second corvette due in June as grant aid, not a sale. Until April, the Cambodian navy ran on small patrol craft.

Read more: Army Recognition (specs), Janes (hull comparison)

American Export Tops, Chinese Capital Growing

Cambodia's US-bound exports were $3.36 billion in Q1, up 38.4% year-on-year, raising the bilateral trade surplus to $3.23 billion as American buyers front-loaded orders at a pace that made the tariff headlines feel almost abstract. Exports for the quarter were $8.09 billion, with the usual trio of garments, footwear and travel goods sectors leading with $3.75 billion of that. That’s 46 cents of every export dollar. Japan trade grew at a more gentlemanly pace of 14.8% to $753 million. Behind those numbers, China put $1.169 billion into the country in Q1, nearly half of all registered investment capital.

Read more: The Star (deficit), Khmer Times (RCEP), Khmer Times (categories), Khmer Times (China investment)

IMF Says 4%, Economists Say 3%, Pump Says Relief

Five economists at an IBC lunch walked out with a number the IMF won't touch, calling for 3% GDP growth though 2026, down from earlier forecasts above 5%, as rising diesel and LPG costs flow through logistics, hospitality, and manufacturing. The IMF, presenting its Regional Economic Outlook in Washington, kept its Cambodia forecast steady at 4%, even as its own Asia and Pacific director reminded everyone that the region's oil and gas consumption is nearly 4% of GDP, almost double Europe's. Some relief arrived Friday, as Iran reopened the Strait (they later reversed course) and the Commerce Ministry cut diesel prices by 10.9% to 5,700 riels per liter, and bringing gasoline down 2.9% to 4,950 riels.
The government has been running roughly $50 million a month in fuel subsidies via reduced import duties on oil, gas, and a grab bag of EVs and stoves.

Read more: The Star (prices), Cambodia Investment Review (economist views), Khmer Times (regional)

Beijing Pours a Billion Into Koh Kong's Hills

Construction started on the Upper Tatay pumped-storage hydropower station in Koh Kong province, a $1 billion, 1-gigawatt project run by state-owned China National Heavy Machinery Corporation and expected to finish by 2029. The plant is designed to use intermittent solar and wind energy to fill the station and release water (and therefore produce electricity) on demand, solving the grid-stability problem that renewables are (in)famous for.

Sihanoukville Shells Get Squatters, Not Investors

Months after the late-2025 scam crackdown pushed out another wave of Chinese workers (and capital), Sihanoukville's unfinished high-rises are still empty, their ground floors taken over by vendors and laborers who've turned the space into makeshift homes. Landowner Sar Muywang, who leased her family's plot to a Chinese developer for a nine-story residential building in 2019, says they'd finish the project themselves if they could afford it. A government recovery program now extended to 2027 keeps promoting investor incentives to an audience that isn't listening.

Read more: CamboJA News (recovery program), CamboJA News (Prince Group), Asian News Network (Mondulkiri raid)

First Project Bond Takes Home the Hardware

The SchneiTec Dynamic Green Project Bond, issued in March 2025 to finance a 60MW solar plant in Kampong Chhnang, picked up two prizes at the 2026 Environmental Finance Lasting Debt Awards, for Green Bond Structure Innovation (Asia-Pacific) and Green Project Bond. The KHR196.64 billion ($49 million) deal, listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange and backed by a credit guarantee from the ADB-affiliated CGIF, runs on a 20-year power purchase agreement with Electricite du Cambodge and is now the country’s longest-tenor corporate bond at 15 years.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review (investor detail), Khmer Times (emissions data)

Erection for the Rat Who Outworked the Sappers

Cambodia has erected the world's first statue of a landmine-detecting rat, honoring Magawa, an African giant pouched rat who sniffed out 100 mines and cleared 141,000 square meters of contaminated land before dying shortly after his retirement in 2022. Bred in Tanzania and trained by Belgian charity Apopo (you MUST go see their visitor center in Siem Riep if you have a chance), he was ableto sweep a tennis-court-sized patch in 20 minutes, work that would take a human with a metal detector days.

Cambodia 20260413

August Whitcraft — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 02:13:56 GMT

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Headlines:

King's Cancer, Hun Sen's Throne

Phnom Penh Asks to Talk, Bangkok Rolls Wire

Trade Booms as Poverty Looms

Shovels Before Settlements

Scam City: 10,000 Desks and No Surprise

Sokha's Appeal: Don't Call Us

Huione's Frozen Customers Return, Empty-Handed

Beijing Banks the First Gigawatt Battery

Moscow's Sub Surfaces at Sihanoukville

Diesel Drops, But the Road Home Still Costs Too Much

Malaysian Money Dials Into 5G

King's Cancer, Hun Sen's Throne

King Norodom Sihamoni, 72, said Friday that Chinese doctors have diagnosed him with prostate cancer and he'll stay in Beijing for treatment that’s going to take between one and three months. The monarch left for China on February 27 for what was supposed to be a routine checkup, one of the twice-yearly medical trips that have become a fixture of his reign. Senate President Hun Sen is staying on as acting head of state while Sihamoni undergoes treatment.

Sources: AP News (father's precedent), Nation Thailand (UN ambassador role), UCA News (Khmer New Year), Arab News (background)

Phnom Penh Asks to Talk, Bangkok Rolls Wire

Hun Manet posted on social media asking Thailand to start border demarcation talks again "quickly and with sincerity." Hours earlier, Thailand's foreign minister said Bangkok wasn't ready, saying it needed to follow "its own procedures." Thailand's defense minister warned of a possible "third conflict," causing analyst Chhang Youk to say the remarks were “provocative.” The two countries shook hands on a ceasefire in late December, but the situation has remained tense.

Sources: Straits Times (Thai FM response), Nation Thailand (ceasefire reference), Ratopati(casualty figures), Cambodia Daily (analyst criticism), Cambodia Daily (ICJ question)

Trade Booms as Poverty Looms

The economy grew at a 5.2 percent clip through 2025, but the Asian Development Bank is saying that three shocks coming together could push as many as 250,000 people (about 1.5 percent of the population) into poverty, and cut 2026 growth. The risks are the Middle East conflict driving up energy costs, the uncertainty of a shifting U.S. trade policy, and continued issues about cross-border trade with Thailand. The warnings land against Q1 2026 data showing total trade rose 17.1 percent to $16.93 billion, on exports that are up 17.7 percent. Agriculture, long the backbone of rural livelihoods, contributed just 0.1 percent to GDP growth last year despite rising export volumes. Women returning from Thailand are facing the greatest challenges - they’re reportedly 18 times more likely than men to drop out of the workforce entirely.

Sources: The Star (Q1 dollar figures), Khmer Times (sector breakdown), Cambodianess (poverty projections)

Shovels Before Settlements

Construction has started on the second section of the Funan Techo Canal, even as families along the first section are still waiting for their compensation checks. The PM asked affected communities for their understanding at the ceremony in Takeo Province, promising his team would resolve compensation "appropriately." Nearly $71 million has been budgeted for payouts. The first section, a 26-kilometer stretch inaugurated in August 2024, remains quiet. Dim Mech, a businessman living along the route in Prek Takeo since the late 1990s, said there's been neither clear compensation information nor any visible construction work in his area so far. The $1.17 billion project has been sold as a way to connect Phnom Penh to the sea by 2028 through a roughly 180-kilometer waterway. Chinese investors own 49% of the venture, Cambodian shareholders hold the balance.

Source: CamboJA News

Scam City: 10,000 Desks and No Surprise

Officials kicked out more than 1,000 foreigners in the first five days of April, nearly half of them Chinese nationals who have been connected to online fraud, as the government races toward a self-imposed deadline to “get rid of” scam operations by month's end. The deportations overlapped with a Thai military media tour of an 80-hectare compound near O'Smach, emptied after cross-border fighting in December 2025, where journalists found handwritten chat guides still open on desks coaching scammers to pose as Singaporeans and extract salary details from victims. The Thai military says that 10,000 people operated from the site, which featured its own hospital, pharmacy, and hair salon.

Sources: Asian News Network ($10B U.S. losses), Cambodia Daily (deportations), Cambodia Daily (device seizures)

Sokha's Appeal: Don't Call Us

The Phnom Penh Appeal Court finished two days of hearings on Kem Sokha's treason conviction Thursday and said it would hand down a verdict at an unspecified “later date,” more than 18 months after its previous session. The 72-year-old opposition founder is serving 27 years under house arrest for allegedly colluding with the United States to (try to) topple the government. His lawyers asked the court to overturn the conviction, saying that prosecutors built their case around a 2013 speech Sokha gave to diaspora Cambodians in Melbourne and couldn't name a single foreign country that had actually colluded with him. Diplomats from the US, Australia, Germany, Britain, and the EU were present for the hearings.

Sources: CamboJA News (defense arguments), CamboJA News (diplomat attendance)

Huione's Frozen Customers Return, Empty-Handed

About 200 Huione Pay and H-Pay customers protested at the National Bank on Tuesday, their second gathering in four days, over their frozen money woes getting no resolution three months after US sanctions reached the payment platforms. The central bank offered H-Pay users a possible meeting with company reps, but gave Huione Pay customers nothing, despite both groups having registered their details back in December. One Sihanoukville construction boss with $600,000 frozen and 700 to 800 workers on her payroll has had to mortgage her house to keep food on the table for her staff. Neither platform has offered a timeline for any release of funds.

Source: CamboJA News

Beijing Banks the First Gigawatt Battery

Work began Friday on a $1 billion pumped storage hydropower station in Koh Kong, the Cambodia’s first gigawatt-scale energy storage project, bankrolled by Chinese investors. The 1,000 MW facility will use four reversible turbines to store power and smooth renewable energy peaks. The mines and energy minister says the project will help push clean energy's share above 70 percent by 2030.

Source: Xinhua

Moscow's Sub Surfaces at Sihanoukville

Three Russian naval vessels, the corvette Gromkiy, the submarine Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky, and the support vessel Andrey Stepanov, pulled into Sihanoukville port from April 5 through 8. It's the second Russian naval call in a year after three ships docked last April following the upgraded Ream Naval Base's inauguration. Russia's ambassador Anatoly Borovik and Rear Admiral In Sokhemara, deputy commander of Ream, welcomed the arrivals. The program included a friendly football match and some vaguely described technical exchanges. Phnom Penh has backed a UN resolution condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Source: Cambodia Daily

Diesel Drops, But the Road Home Still Costs Too Much

The price of diesel fell almost 16 percent to 6,900 riels/ liter after the ceasefire was announced in the Middle East, but workers heading to their provinces for Khmer New Year say they're still scaling back travel or staying put. The government is running about 600 free buses over the six days that started yesterday.

Sources: Cambodianess (price drops), CamboJA News (union president)

Malaysian Money Dials Into 5G

Maybank gave Smart Axiata a $50 million financing facility for the build out of 5G and digital infrastructure. Smart is a subsidiary of Malaysia's Axiata Group, and this is Maybank's first new economy deal in Cambodia. The bank is setting aside $25 billion for more deals of a similar stripe throughout ASEAN between now and 2030.

Source: Cambodia Investment Review

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Cambodia 20260406

August Whitcraft — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 01:49:11 GMT

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Headlines:

Licensed to Traffic

Four Hundred Families, $300 a Hectare, 15 Days to Leave

Barbed Wire at the Temple

Beijing Parks a Corvette at Ream

Kingpin's Fall Strands Depositors

Court Erases Opposition Advisor From the Ballot

Thai Boycott Fills Local Shelves

Fill Up Fast

Rat Gets a Monument (He Earned It)

Licensed to Traffic

Amnesty International found that the local gambling regulator renewed licenses for at least 12 casinos that have confirmed links to human trafficking, torture, and forced labor, despite the government's promise of a crackdown. The Commercial Gambling Management Commission approved layout plans for the Crown and Majestic casino complexes in Poipet and Bavet, whose former chairman Ly Kuong stepped down in December and was arrested a month later on charges including illegal recruitment for exploitation. Two survivors said they were confined for months at Crown Poipet, threatened with electric shock batons, and forced to open bank accounts. Authorities say they've shut down more than 250 scam sites and 92 casinos since July, but the regulator's recent approvals suggest the cleanup hasn't gone as far as the licensing office.

Read more: Jurist (report), Asgam (CGMC renewal), CamboJA News (scam centers), Sight Magazine (penalties), Al Jazeera (legal)

Four Hundred Families, $300 a Hectare, 15 Days to Leave

Provincial authorities in Preah Vihear gave nearly 400 farming families a deadline of April 13 to vacate land they've been cultivating for more than a decade, clearing the way for a Chinese-held economic land concession. The company, China Great Cause (Cambodia) Investment, got the concession through a 2012 sub-decree and has registered seven land titles that cover 5,871 hectares, but left portions undeveloped until last year when it started surveying who was farming there. Authorities are offering 1.2 million riel per hectare (about $300), as compensation.

Read more: CamboJA News

Barbed Wire at the Temple

Thai troops cleared land and hung up barbed wire near Preah Vihear Temple this week, rolling in armored vehicles to what Phnom Penh calls "illegally occupied areas" of Sra Em. The foreign ministry says the moves are in violation of the ceasefire agreement and has made its second formal protest in three days, after Bangkok sent soldiers and two armored vehicles to the O'Smach border crossing. Phnom Penh also rejected accusations from Thai ultranationalist Veera Somkwamkid that Hun Sen's Bodyguard Headquarters had “infiltrated Bangkok” in order to carry out espionage and assassinations, calling the claims "false and baseless."

Read more: Nation Thailand (oil smuggling), Cambodianess (barbed wire), Khmer Times (espionage), Khmer Times (probe officials)

Beijing Parks a Corvette at Ream

The first Chinese-built Type 056 guided-missile corvette docked at Ream Naval Base on April 4; a handover ceremony is planned for Wednesday. A second ship is about 70% done and due to arrive in June. The 1,300-tonne corvettes carry YJ-83 anti-ship missiles as well as HHQ-10 air defense systems, and are built for coastal patrol work. Thailand's Navy felt it was appropriate to make public reassurances that the arrivals "would not affect Thailand's maritime security in any way," claiming its own superiority in both number of warships and capability. The Thai statement also said that its Navy is "closely monitoring efforts by countries in the region to strengthen their naval forces."

Kingpin's Fall Strands Depositors

Li Xiong, former chairman of Huione Group, was extradited to China last Wednesday. He is up on charges including fraud, running illegal casinos, and the concealment of criminal proceeds, in what U.S. authorities have called a multi-billion-dollar laundering operation. The U.S. Treasury fingered Huione as a laundering node that processed at least $4 billion in illegal proceeds, from both North Korean thefts as well as the regional scam syndicates. Days after the extradition, customers of the National Bank of Cambodia received a letter saying the bank had no measures to resolve their frozen Huione Pay deposits and advising them to pursue legal action. The central bank said it has no legal basis to recognize customers as creditors.

Read more: AP News (network figures), CamboJA News (customer claims), CamboJA News (citizenship revocation)

Court Erases Opposition Advisor From the Ballot

The appeal court on Tuesday permanently stripped Rong Chhun of his political rights, upholding a 2025 incitement conviction over comments he made about online scams and the Cambodian border with Vietnam. Chhun, a former union leader and advisor to the opposition Nation Power Party, already served more than 15 months on a separate conviction in 2021. He is still on release pending a Supreme Court appeal but can't vote or run in next year's commune elections. Neither he nor his lawyer attended the hearing after their request to delay was denied.

Read more: CamboJA News

Thai Boycott Fills Local Shelves

Local products now have 30 percent of the domestic market, up from just 2 percent twenty years ago, as consumer anger over border clashes with Thailand continues to keep shoppers away from Thai imports. The spat with Thailand has given local SME producers their biggest opening in a generation, according to Te Tangpor, who leads the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises. He told producers not to squander the moment by flooding the market with counterfeit or substandard goods, which could kill the fledgling trust that's taken years to build. Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth made the same pitch last September, telling businesses to deliver quality and hygiene if they want to change a boycott into a permanent brand advantage.

Fill Up Fast

The Ministry of Commerce raised retail fuel prices twice in 72 hours, with diesel up to 8,100 riel (roughly $2) a liter on April 4 from 7,500 riel on April 1. That's up 8% in three days. Regular gasoline rose slightly as well in a smaller move. The ministry says current prices already include government subsidies and tax cuts which are intended to soften the blow, indicating that Phnom Penh doesn't have much more room to maneuver. The new rates are in place until further notice, which in practice means “until the next adjustment.”

Read more: Khmer Times

Rat Gets a Monument (He Earned It)

Siem Reap now has a statue of Magawa, an African giant pouched rat who sniffed out more than 100 landmines during a five-year career that started in 2016. The rodent cleared more than 141,000 square meters of land and in 2020 became the first rat to receive the PDSA Gold Medal for bravery. He died in 2022 at the age of eight. More than a million people still live and work on land that’s contaminated by mines and UXO, a 2030 mine-free target is still much-hoped-for.

Read more: BBC (Apopo training), Khmer Times (praise, successor)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

Subscribe now

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Cambodia 20260330

August Whitcraft — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:52:16 GMT

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Headlines:

Hormuz Shock Nearly Doubles Diesel Price

Batteries Included

Three Months Past Ceasefire, Bills Come Due

900,000 Workers Home From Thailand, Debts in Tow

April Fools' Comes Early for Scam Bosses

Fourteen Years for Reporting, Two for a Post

Two Months Locked Out

Invest More, Earn Less

Lab Coats Before Market Access

10,000 Pieces, One God, Five Years of Patience

Hormuz Shock Nearly Doubles Diesel Price

Diesel rose another 5.97% this week to 7,100 riels/ liter, an astonishing 84% spike since the Middle East conflict began squeezing the Strait of Hormuz. Regular gasoline is up almost 42%, liquefied petroleum gas 60%. The government has scrambled through a cascade of measures (see next story), so far to little effect. Prolonged disruption could shave up to 1.3% off regional growth and push inflation up more than 3%. The Kingdom imports every drop of fuel it burns, as seabed reserves remain untapped (a fair bit of it is in areas contested by Thai claims), and holds roughly three weeks of strategic stock. More than 2,000 of the country's 6,300 fuel stations already shut down temporarily in mid-March after the ran dry.

Read more: Khaosod English (traffic enforcement), Cambodia Investment Review (ADB macro forecast), The Sun (weekly price increments), Khmer Times (financial sector risk), VnExpress (station closures)

Batteries Included

Import duties on electric vehicles and green energy gear will go to zero on April 1. Passenger EVs have been cut from a 35% tariff to nothing, plug-in hybrids from 35% to 7%, and a raft of supporting equipment (lithium batteries, solar systems, EV motors) also will land at zero. The cuts are on 179 tariff lines in passenger and freight categories. The General Department of Customs and Excise announced the new rates days after the government cut fuel taxes to try and ease pain at the pump, and wants to throw open the door to importers looking at a market that is now looking a lot more hospitable to anything with a battery.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (bauxite export cut), The Star (fuel price specifics), Khmer Times (sub-decree number)

Three Months Past Ceasefire, Bills Come Due

The ceasefire on December 27 stopped the shooting, but more than 36,500 people are still unable to return home three months later. Food prices in border markets rose above the overall rate of inflation in March as households stayed away from larger markets and relied on village shops, spooked by the price of fuel and fears of new fighting. The 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, perched on top of a cliff in the Dangrek Mountains and a UNESCO World Heritage site, took damage as a result of the combat last year. Officials think that some structures might even collapse during the upcoming rainy season.

Read more: AP News (temple damage), Straits Times (economic impact), CamboJA News (pact dispute), ReliefWeb (food prices)

900,000 Workers Home From Thailand, Debts in Tow

More than 900,000 Cambodian migrant workers returned from Thailand through last calendar year, and most arrived with debt. About three-quarters of returnee households now owe an average of $5,500, and the majority of those are unable to make payments. The average monthly household income is $64, which needs to be balanced against expenses of $173, a gap that's unsurprisingly is pushing many to borrow more rather than dig themselves out. Only about 30% got any help, mostly short-term food and transport. The result is that more than half of returnees are already planning to migrate again (that’s up from 13% earlier in a previous report) as the Cambodian economy clearly isn’t able to absorb them.

April Fools' Comes Early for Scam Bosses

The April deadline to rid the Kingdom of its scam industry is sending criminal syndicates scrambling to Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, leaving behind a, perhaps, messier problem than the one authorities promised to solve. The UK has sanctioned Eang Soklim and his Legend Innovation Co., (which allegedly ran the country's largest scam compound, #8 Park, which had housing for 20,000 trafficked workers). London already had a £100 million office block, two mansions, and a helicopter frozen under earlier sanctions against the network. Young Indonesians are now sleeping rough outside their embassy in Phnom Penh, abandoned without passports or wages after their bosses dumped them when enforcement pressure became too much. The syndicates are relocating, rather than disappearing, and Sihanoukville, once a boomtown built on fraud, is now relatively quiet as vendors who serviced the scam economy watch their livelihoods evaporate.

Read more: SCMP, SL Guardian (stranded workers), Protos (UK sanctions specifics), CamboJA News (Sihanoukville vendor impact)

Fourteen Years for Reporting, Two for a Post

Battambang Appeal Court has upheld 14-year prison sentences for journalists Phon Sopheap and Pheap Pheara. They were convicted of supplying information “prejudicial to national defense” after they were photographed with soldiers near Ta Krabey Temple last July, during fighting with Thailand. Thai media later published the images, claiming that unexploded landmines appeared in the background. Also this week, Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced garment union leader Pich Piseth to two years for incitement after he criticized another union president on Facebook. That case began when the other president, Sok Kin, sued for defamation (he later withdrew his complaint). Rights group Licadho now lists Piseth among 97 prisoners of interest detained for activism or expression.

Read more: CamboJA News, CamboJA News (Facebook case)

Two Months Locked Out

Prince Bank customers lined up at the Phnom Penh head office Monday to finally withdraw deposits frozen since January 8, when the bank was liquidated two days after parent company chairman Chen Zhi's arrest for alleged fraud and money laundering tied to online scams. Accounting firm Morisonkak MKA has been converting the bank's assets to cash for refunds, but some depositors are unable to get access to their money after missing a one-month documentation window that closed February 13. Fellow liquidated H-Pay and Panda Bank customers are also pushing the central bank for similar relief.

Read more: CamboJA News

Invest More, Earn Less

AmCham's 2026 survey of 409 companies shows almost two-thirds of them say that they plan to increase investment in the next year, but the share expecting profits to drop has almost doubled from 20% to 34%. The collision is the result of pressure coming from the spike in fuel costs, a tepid tourism recovery at Angkor Wat, and squeezed margins. About half of those surveyed still expect profit growth, but the other half is getting louder.

Lab Coats Before Market Access

The EU and Germany are putting €2 million ($2.3 million) into a National Agricultural Laboratory, the Kingdom's first ISO-accredited testing facility for food exports. The grant also backs 29 cashew, pepper, and mango SMEs with technical support and financing support. The lab is part of the €24.3 million ($28.1 million) EU-German CAPSAFE program, which was designed to get agribusiness up to European import standards.

Read more: Cambodianess (co-financing), EU External Action (launch)

10,000 Pieces, One God, Five Years of Patience

Five years of work to bring together more than 10,000 sandstone fragments has resulted in a payoff in the form of a whole seven-ton Dancing Shiva. The 16.4-foot, 10-armed, five-faced sculpture was carved from a single block during the 10th-century Khmer empire at Koh Ker, then smashed in the 14th century, before getting further scattered by looting. The statue went on display at the Angkor Conservation Center on March 18. Experts and France's EFEO ran the restoration from between 2020, building on archaeological research that was begun in 2012. The statue will eventually return to Koh Ker Temple, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2023.

Cambodia 20260323

August Whitcraft — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 03:11:53 GMT

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Headlines:

One Month of Diesel, Zero Refineries

One Rumor, $700 Million Out the Door

Raids by the Thousand, Answers by the Dozen

Washington's $15,000 Cover Charge

Two Bucks Fifty and a Prayer

Monks, Concrete, and Border Creep

Hun Sen's Nephew Loses the Shield

More Money In, Thinner Margins Out

Red Carpet, No Visa

Twenty Months, No Hearing, No Hurry

Mekong's Dolphins Hit 116 and Counting

Shiva Dances Again, Uma Still in Paris

One Month of Diesel, Zero Refineries

About a third of the country's 6,300 petrol stations shuttered last week after Vietnam and China restricted fuel exports through at least end-March, though most have since reopened with only about 6 percent still dark. Thailand's export ban, in place since the armed conflict that began last July, has made the squeeze worse. The government cut import duties and VAT on fuel to zero, trying to put a leash on prices that have risen 40 percent for petrol and 74 percent for diesel since the US-Israeli war on Iran choked Middle East shipping routes. Energy Minister Keo Rottanak says Cambodia is pulling more supply from Singapore and Malaysia; partnerships with Total and Chevron are helpin to keep product flowing. Cambodia holds less than a month of diesel, jet fuel, and petrol in reserve and has no refineries of its own. Rottanak told Bloomberg the government is in talks with the US, China, and Japan about building a domestic refinery by 2029 or 2030.

Read more: CNA (LNG power plans), The Star (tax cut details), VnExpress (station closure figures), Strat News Global (30-day supply limit), Modern Diplomacy (ASEAN grid proposal)

One Rumor, $700 Million Out the Door

Lines formed outside APD Bank's Phnom Penh headquarters last Monday, allegedly after phone calls to high-net-worth Chinese clients claimed the institution would lose its license. Deposit withdrawal attempts hit $700 million for the week. The bank set daily withdrawal limits to $300 and suspended Visa services for more than 7,000 customers. APD has more than a billion dollars in deposits, with 99% of shares held in the hands of chairman Vong Pech, an unusually tight ownership structure for a bank. The panic comes after license revocations and forced liquidations at three other banks over the past year, most recently Panda Bank in February. Central bank governor Chea Serey asked for patience, promising that the banking sector "remains strong." APD continues to say its balance sheet is solid.

Read more: CamboJA News (transparency concerns context), Cambodia Investment Review ($700M withdrawal figure)

Raids by the Thousand, Answers by the Dozen

Between January and mid-March, police hauled in 5,771 suspects from 23 countries in 98 raids, the Interior Ministry said, with Chinese nationals making up the majority at 3,438 souls. Another 3,700 reportedly fled before authorities showed up. The crackdown has resulted in the shuttering of 249 locations, and courts have processed more than 500 cybercrime cases. But a Guardian investigation into arrested Prince Group founder Chen Zhi shows a messier picture, with scam compounds allegedly run with ties to the political elite, complete with luxury yachts and a $16 billion eco-city project. Chen's arrest in January forced uncomfortable questions about whether the raids are cleanup or damage control. Thousands of workers are now themselves stranded without passports or money to get home.

Read more: Caixin Global (January-March statistics), Asian News Network (deportation processing numbers), The Guardian (Chen Zhi profile), Cambodia Daily (provincial breakdown data), Asian News Network (China technical support)

Washington's $15,000 Cover Charge

Starting April 2, anyone from Cambodia applying for a short-term US business or tourist visa will need to post a cash bond between $5,000 and $15,000. The bond, payable by wire transfer or cashier's check to a government escrow account, will be refunded if the visa is denied or if the traveler leaves (the US) on time, but vanishes in case of an overstay. The State Department has put 12 new countries on the program, bringing the total to 50, mostly low-income nations. Washington says 97 percent of bonded travelers have departed on schedule, though that compliance rate is the result of less than 1,000 visas issued so far. The bond payment, of course, doesn't guarantee visa approval.

Read more: Travel and Tour World (payment logistics), Cambodianess (compliance rate), Travel and Tour World (program history), Khmer Times (deportation context), Travel and Tour World (tourism impact)

Two Bucks Fifty and a Prayer

Diesel at 6,550 riel ($1.64)/ liter pushed about 400 workers at J Star Garment in Kampong Speu to strike Tuesday, blocking National Road 3. PM Hun Manet held a tripartite meeting that resulted in a $2.50 monthly stopgap starting April 1, which union president Far Saly praised despite workers saying it’s not enough. To help illustrate how close to the edge these people are, one striker said her transport costs have risen by $3 a month but the factory's stipend, including bonuses, was only $12, leaving her short. The Labor Ministry says the issue is resolved, but worker Heam Samon said about 70% of strikers are still out, with demands for higher meal and overtime pay unmet.

Read more: CamboJA News (strike details), CamboJA News (government response)

Monks, Concrete, and Border Creep

Cambodia filed a new protest last Friday after spotting smoke rising from residential areas near the Thai border and claiming continued military construction in disputed territory, three months after a ceasefire was agreed to. Bangkok's forces have been clearing land, pouring concrete trenches near Ta Moan Thom temple, and building roads in Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces. Thai officials recently surveyed and allocated three land plots to citizens in Banteay Meanchey along a disputed border segment. Thai media reported that a 1.3-kilometer permanent fence between two border markers will start construction in early April. The project is expected to take about a month and a half.

Read more: Cambodianess (Cambodia's formal protest), Cambodia Daily (fence construction timeline), The Globe and Mail (historical context, casualties)

Hun Sen's Nephew Loses the Shield

An Australian appeals court breathed life back into Al Jazeera's bid to subpoena AFP (Australian Federal Police) paperwork allegedly connecting Hun To to drug trafficking, overturning an earlier decision that said the broadcaster couldn't ask for evidence it didn't already have. Al Jazeera says the AFP have 17 documents from a 2002-2004 probe, one describing him as a "growing drug suspect." Hun To, nephew of former PM Hun Sen and cousin to current PM Hun Manet, has denied any involvement in drug trafficking or any of the scam networks. He previously sued The Australian newspaper over the same allegation and settled out of court last July.

Read more: CamboJA News

More Money In, Thinner Margins Out

AmCham's 2026 Business Outlook survey shows almost two-thirds of firms are planning to raise investments this year, up from half in 2025. But the share of companies that are expecting profit drops has risen from a fifth to more than a third year-on-year. The Khmer Times ran a separate piece warning that Cambodia remains a "price-taker" in global trade, vulnerable to US tariff fights and border disputes with Thailand that directly affect import costs.

Read more: Khmer Times (profit decline expectations), Khmer Times (tariff percentages imposed)

Red Carpet, No Visa

Chinese tourists will get visa-free entry from June 15 to October 15, a four-month pilot for the peak season, and launched alongside a street art festival that has turned Siem Reap's Pub Street into an open-air stage. The courtship makes sense on paper as Chinese arrivals were 1.2 million in 2025, making China the second-largest source of tourists. Tourism Minister Huot Hak said 150,000 Chinese visitors arrived in the first two months of 2026, out of about 690,000 international arrivals. Full-year international arrivals were 5.57 million in 2025.

Read more: The Star (2026 visitor numbers), Travel and Tour World (visa pilot dates)

Twenty Months, No Hearing, No Hurry

The UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders wants the immediate scheduling of an appeal hearing for five Mother Nature activists who've been jailed for more than 20 months. Thon Ratha, Phuon Keoreaksmey, Long Kunthea, Ly Chandaravuth, and Yim Leanghy are serving six to eight years for “plotting and insulting the King” after they launched an environmental campaign in July 2024. Their lawyer filed an appeal that same month. The Court of Appeal postponed a hearing once in June 2025, and has gone quiet since. The defense team sent another letter in February asking the court to proceed, but the Court of Appeal has so far declined to say when, or whether, it will do anything.

Read more: CamboJA News

Mekong's Dolphins Hit 116 and Counting

Four calves born so far in 2026 brought the Mekong dolphin population to 116. Even better, 2025 saw zero deaths reported from illegal fishing gear, apparently for the first time since people started keeping track. River guards, fisheries patrols, and drone monitoring are getting the credit for keeping illegal gear out of dolphin pools in Kratie and Stung Treng.

Shiva Dances Again, Uma Still in Paris

Reading Public Museum returned a looted 10th-century Khmer sculpture this week, the same week Cambodian restorers reassembled a 5-meter Dancing Shiva from more than 10,000 pieces that have been collected over decades. The sandstone god, with all ten arms and five faces, took five years to piece back together at the Angkor Conservation Center in Siem Reap. His consort, Dancing Uma, is still at the Guimet Museum in Paris, where the couple has been separated since looters shattered Koh Ker's Kraham temple.

Read more: Berks Weekly (U.S. museum return), VietnamPlus (10,000 fragments detail), Cambodianess (Uma Paris location)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Cambodia 20260316

August Whitcraft — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 01:41:25 GMT

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Headlines:

New Scam Law, Same Old Networks

One-Third of the Pumps Run Dry

Thailand's Scam Safari

Five Requests, No Replies

10,000 Ghost Students and a $4 Million Bill

Two Years for a Facebook Post

Five Guardians of Truth Unite

Five Million Tonnes by River

Runway to Ratanakiri

Grab Pads Drivers' Wallets as Fuel Pinch Bites

Rising Sun Shops Local

Who Wore It First?

New Scam Law, Same Old Networks

The Cabinet approved the country's first dedicated anti-online scam law Friday, setting prison terms of five to 20 years for ringleaders, with life sentences possible if someone ends up dead. The bill, now heading to a rubber-stamp parliament, arrives roughly eight months into a crackdown that has seen more than 200,000 people flee the country since July. Information Minister Neth Pheaktra says the law proves Cambodia isn't a "safe haven for criminals," though past enforcement efforts left financial and protection networks intact and operations quickly reconstituted. The law also holds property owners and recruiters accountable, which is a big change. Authorities arrested a former advisor to Prime Minister Hun Manet, alleged kingpin Chen Zhi in January. Hun Manet claimed ignorance both he networks, and of his advisor’s illicit activities.

One-Third of the Pumps Run Dry

Close to 2,000 of the country's 6,300 petrol stations shut their doors on Wednesday, leaving drivers scrambling and Commerce Minister Cham Nimul promising investigations into whether operators are hoarding fuel so they will be able to profit from expected price hikes. Offenders will get fines or license revocations. According to the Bangkok Post, the closures follow Thailand's fuel export ban, put in place against the backdrop of the broader breakdown in relations between the two countries. Thailand sent 2.2 billion liters of fuel to Cambodia in 2024. Nimul said the government would coordinate with the private sector to import from Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia if needed, though he didn't specify timelines or volumes. Price stability measures are in the works.

Thailand's Scam Safari

Thai forces led reporters through O'Smach on Thursday, touring the Cambodian border area they've held since December. The military showed what it found after shelling casino complexes, including offices filled with scam call scripts, fake police backdrops for video calls, stacks of target phone numbers, and dormitories hastily abandoned by an estimated 20,000 workers. Thailand says it struck the casinos because Cambodian troops were using them as firing positions, then discovered the scam operations inside. Phnom Penh isn't buying it. Information Minister Neth Pheaktra called the tour a "dangerous misuse of law enforcement narratives" to justify Thailand's "de facto annexation" of territory it still occupies two months after the truce.

Five Requests, No Replies

Phnom Penh says it sent five formal requests to Thailand's Joint Boundary Commission since the December 27 ceasefire, asking for joint survey teams to measure disputed border sections, but Thailand hasn't responded to any of them. Government spokesman Pen Bona rejected Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow's claim that Prime Minister Hun Manet had postponed talks until after Khmer New Year, saying Hun Manet never announced or posted any such thing. The Thai side previously asked to delay meetings twice, claiming it was necessary because of parliamentary elections and the formation of a new government. Thailand's newly elected parliament convened March 14, so that excuse should be expired by now.

10,000 Ghost Students and a $4 Million Bill

Three luxury vehicles, large farmland plots, and at least two houses valued around $200,000 each near Siem Reap, all purchased on an official salary of about 2 million riel a month (about $500). That's what staff at the Techo Sen Regional Polytechnic Institute in Battambang say director Chhim Thoeun has accumulated since the government's C1 vocational training program launched. The institute reported enrolling 10,125 students between October 2023 and late 2025, qualifying it for 17 billion riel ($4.19 million) in ministry funding at 1.7 million riel per student. Staff say the real enrollment was closer to 20 classes with five to ten students each, with dropout names kept on the books and attendance lists inflated. His family reportedly runs no other businesses. Staff are calling for his removal.

Two Years for a Facebook Post

Social activist Thou Vakhim got a two-year prison sentence Tuesday for incitement to commit a felony. His crime was making Facebook posts about human rights violations and calling for the release of jailed environmentalists and a youth leader. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also fined him four million riel. Vakhim, a former monk who left Wat Than pagoda after being told to drop his activism, was detained last September. His lawyer plans to appeal next week, arguing the posts were protected speech about border disputes with Thailand and criticism of government leaders. Licadho now counts 97 people behind bars for the crimes of activism and expression.

Read more: CamboJA News

Five Guardians of Truth Unite

The Information Ministry has trotted out phase two of its "Zero Fake News" campaign on March 12, inviting counterparts from Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and China to join a regional anti-disinformation push under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation framework. The same minister who championed the scam law (Story 1) and rejected Thailand's border tour (Story 3), Neth Pheaktra, said the project would work to fight fake news across borders, promote verified content from professional media organizations, and improve media literacy education throughout the Mekong Subregion. It may be worth noting that the five participating governments together sit near the bottom of Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index. The campaign builds on a domestic "Say No to Fake News" effort started in 2025 and will roll out across Phnom Penh and all 24 provinces, with the stated goal of eliminating false information from social media platforms.

Read more: Nation Thailand (cooperation scope), VietnamPlus

Five Million Tonnes by River

Hun Manet issued sub-decrees Saturday setting up multipurpose ports in Kampong Chhnang and Kampot to shift cargo off roads and onto inland waterways. The Kampong Chhnang facility on the Tonle Sap River will handle 2 million tonnes yearly, and Kampot will have capacity for 3 million tonnes. The changes are in line with the 2023-2033 transport master plan, which has been looking into river and rail links to cut logistics costs for manufacturers clustered near Phnom Penh. Kampong Chhnang sits about 90 kilometers north of the capital along a waterway that already connects to Vietnam's Mekong delta network. Kampot's southern location gives exporters another option besides the congested truck routes to Sihanoukville.

Read more: Khmer Times

Runway to Ratanakiri

Seven or eight hours by road from Phnom Penh, that's what Governor Nhem Sam Oeun calls Ratanakiri Province's biggest problem. The proposed fix is going to be an airport on 1,905 hectares in Lumphat District, 580 kilometers from the capital. The feasibility study, environmental impact assessment, and flight-technique study are done, and Sam Oeun hopes to finish construction during his second term. The site sits where Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Stung Treng provinces meet, so it should be able to function as a hub for the whole northeast. The province is preparing to open four new border crossings with Laos and Vietnam, including one in Veun Sai district that will connect with Laos' Attapeu province and another in the "dragon tail" area near Vietnam's border post 6.

Read more: Cambodianess (airport specs), Khmer Times

Grab Pads Drivers' Wallets as Fuel Pinch Bites

Grab started paying ride-hailing drivers a temporary per-trip subsidy on March 10, while tweaking platform fees and dynamic pricing to help them absorb rising LPG and gasoline costs. Fuel is one of the biggest daily expenses for the motorbike, car, and tuk-tuk drivers who make up Grab's network, and even modest price swings can chew through earnings. Kang Sovannarot, Grab's country head for Cambodia and Myanmar, said increases at the pump hit are hitting take-home pay directly. It's a band-aid, though, of course - the pump closures from Thailand's export ban (Story 2) remain unresolved.

Rising Sun Shops Local

Trade with Japan was up to $506 million in January and February, up ~12% from the same period last year. Exports rose a respectable 8.9% to $328 million, but Japanese imports jumped 17.8% to $178 million. That's Japanese companies buying more from their own Cambodian factories, garments and electronics rolling out of special economic zones under RCEP tariff cuts.

Read more: Khmer Times

Who Wore It First?

The Culture Ministry says that it has traced the Sbai garment back to its own Funan period (1st to 6th centuries) after Thai social media erupted over an ASEAN video showing both countries' performers wearing the traditional wrap. The ministry called for calm and warned against using cultural heritage for political gain, while also calling on ASEAN states to promote "accurate historical understanding." The dispute flared up after the Philippines, this year's ASEAN chair, dressed both nations' performers in it.

Cambodia 20260309

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 01:46:45 GMT

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Headlines:

Prince of Thieves: Taiwan Cracks a $336M Laundromat

Scams Out, Suits In, Hun Manet's April Deadline

Twenty-One Days and a Prayer

Peace Offering: Hun Manet Takes a Seat at Trump's Table

Temples and Trenches: Hun Manet Rallies the Nation as Thai Standoff Drags On

IMF Gives the Books a Once-Over

Last Funders Standing Hit the Exit

Toyota Plants Its Flag in the SEZ

Treason for Tree-Huggers

Europe's 1,400 Firms Want Rules They Can Read

Industrial Plan Earns a Gentleman's C

Prince of Thieves: Taiwan Cracks a $336M Laundromat

Taiwan prosecutors indicted 62 people and 13 companies for laundering $336 million through the island for Prince Group founder Chen Zhi, whose Cambodia-based scam empire collapsed in a spectacular fashion last year. Chen, stripped of Cambodian citizenship and deported to China in January, allegedly funneled illicit cash into Taiwan starting in 2016, buying up 24 properties, 35 luxury cars, and $1.7 million in designer bags and shoes through a web of shell companies. Prosecutors took control of $173 million in assets, including 24 sports cars that have already been auctioned for $13.7 million. The US indicted Chen in October and seized 127,000 bitcoin worth about $11.3 billion at (then) current prices, and Beijing is calling him "the ringleader of a major cross-border gambling and fraud criminal syndicate." Taiwan wants 13 years for Chen, 20 for his alleged right hand, and prison terms up to 16 years for other defendants.

Read more: DW (US designation, deportation), Taipei Times (Bitcoin seizure, sentencing)

Scams Out, Suits In, Hun Manet's April Deadline

Hun Manet pitched Cambodia to nearly 700 business representatives at the ASEAN-Cambodia Business Summit as he promised to get rid of online scam networks by the end of April, a self-imposed deadline that sets a benchmark for observers to judge if the cleanup is real. Foreign direct investment came to just a little over $5 billion in 2025, which was up almost a fifth over the 2024 number, but the way the money was concentration tells a perhaps useful story. Almost two-thirds of the FDI landed from China, Singapore managed 7% and other ASEAN states barely registered. The PM also talked about political stability and FTAs, pointing to the new Phnom Penh airport and the repeatedly stalled Funan Techo Canal as proof of his nation’s export capacity. Stephen Higgins, managing partner of Mekong Strategic Capital, was quoted as saying that the scam centers are "the biggest threat to Cambodia's long term future," and further saying that recent enforcement shows Hun Manet has "been able to overcome vested interests that had been protecting [the] industry."

Read more: CamboJA News ($5B investment figures), Khmer Times (1,121 deportations), Travel and Tour World, Khmer Times

Twenty-One Days and a Prayer

The energy minister wants you to know that everything is fine! The nations fuel reserve stockpile can last 21 days even if imports came to a complete stopp, Keo Rottanak said, even as a handful of filling stations (temporarily) closed, causing spooked drivers to get in line to fill up at stations still open. The government is working to keep panic buying and illegal price hikes at bay, but the country's almost complete reliance on fuel imports from Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia leaves it exposed if the Strait of Hormuz stays shut. Fuel imports were reported total $2.43 billion in 2025.

Read more: Khmer Times (21-day reserves), Cambodia Daily, Khmer Times, Cambodia Daily

Peace Offering: Hun Manet Takes a Seat at Trump's Table

PM Hun Manet flew to Washington on February 19 to attend the first meeting of President Trump's Board of Peace as a founding member. That sort of trip normally presents optics that would trigger speculation about “strategic realignment” for Beijing's closest Southeast Asian partner. The Board of Peace platform, however, isn’t a defense pact or security alliance, just a consultative diplomatic body, which makes any narrative of a pivot feel a little overwrought. What the Board does offer is a structured channel back to Washington after years of strained bilateral ties, a hedge that will cost Phnom Penh little while China still provides the bulk of FDI (see the second story, above) and owns the textile supply chains that underpin the export economy.

Temples and Trenches: Hun Manet Rallies the Nation as Thai Standoff Drags On

A recent message from the PM encouraged Cambodians to drop their internal divisions about the border dispute with Thailand. Cambodia can’t really stand toe to toe with Thailand militarily, so it is leaning on international law to get what it wants, a strategy dating to 1959 when Phnom Penh first took the case to the ICJ. The court's 1962 ruling gave the temple to Cambodia; a 2013 interpretation went further, giving control of the entire surrounding promontory. Thailand has contested the boundaries ever since, and with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, Hun Manet appears to be settling in for a long game.

IMF Gives the Books a Once-Over

The IMF has wrapped up its annual Article IV review, with mission chief Kenichiro Kashiwase promising technical support for the banking sector. National Bank Governor Chea Serey gave an overview to the IMF team on inflation, stability of the riel, and what she called "key challenges": border disputes, tech-enabled fraud, and bank liquidations. Serey said on social media that the mission's timing is critical given that the country is "facing many challenges."

Read more: Khmer Times

Last Funders Standing Hit the Exit

Aid lifelines are fraying, and fast. The US put a stop to 30 USAID programs that were worth $260 million in early 2025, part of an 83% global cut that gutted health, education, child protection, and anti-trafficking work. Sweden has also finished a complete phase-out, pulling roughly $13.6 million in yearly assistance, and Germany's BMZ is also trimming bilateral programs. Bilateral aid to least developed countries is expected to drop as much as a quarter overall, with the biggest donors cutting for two years in a row for the first time in almost three decades. CMAC stopped mine clearance in several provinces after losing US funding in a move that has affected more than a thousand of their staff. Tuberculosis programs lost $15 million despite infections climbing to 33,363 in 2024, and $52 million in primary education and teacher training has evaporated just as the Cambodia is on the brink of LDC graduation.

Read more: CamboJA News

Toyota Plants Its Flag in the SEZ

Toyota has rolled out locally assembled Hilux and Fortuner models from the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone for the first time, with president Kensuke Tsuchiya saying the company wants to be the country's "national brand." Toyota is already responsible for more than two-thirds of vehicles on Cambodian roads, but at the moment, most of them are secondhand imports. Local assembly is a change from just selling to building, using a workforce that, two years ago, was still almost entirely in technical college. The thinking is straightforward: a buyer who starts out with a compact Raize at the age of 25 will still be buying a Toyota or Lexus at 55, cycling through four or five vehicles over a lifetime. The company has been run locally for 33 years, long enough to understand that the most important factors for domestic buyers are resale value and access to provincial workshops.

Read more: Khmer Times

Treason for Tree-Huggers

The Supreme Court turned down bail for five Mother Nature activists, keeping them in the pokey on conspiracy and “insulting-the-King” convictions that were handed down in July 2024. Thun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth, Yim Leanghy, Long Kunthea, and Phuon Keoraksmey are scattered between five provincial prisons, and are 608 days into their ordeal. The original municipal court case sentenced 10 activists to between six and eight years, but only the above named five are in custody. Rights group Licadho says 97 people are currently jailed for the exercise of their rights, including environmental campaigners, trade unionists, and social media users.

Europe's 1,400 Firms Want Rules They Can Read

Forty senior executives from European companies have filed complaints with officials to ask for clearer regulations and consistent enforcement, a rather blunt signal that the 1,400 EU businesses already operating here are tiring of regulatory roulette. The EU is Cambodia’s fourth-largest export market, and is responsible for roughly 15% of exports, which gives the complaints some weight. With the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences under periodic review and competitors offering more predictable regulatory environments, those 1,400 firms have options if the roulette wheel keeps spinning, and they’re apparently not shy to remind the government.

Read more: Khmer Times

Industrial Plan Earns a Gentleman's C

The Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025 wrapped up with modest diversification beyond garments, getting a partial structural overhaul, but falling short of wider targets for an industrial upgrade. The policy push was intended to build out the auto parts, electronics, and agro-processing sectors alongside the textile base that currently still dominates the export scene. The policy borrowed from Japanese and South Korean playbooks, but the results suggest the homework may have been wrapped up without quite making the honor roll.

Read more: Khmer Times

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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